Buhari Signs Deal To Allow UK Deport Hardened Foreign Criminals To Nigeria

A deportation agreement with the United Kingdom, which will see the deportation of Nigerian illegal immigrants and criminals, has been signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Most of those deported were originally from Nigeria, but it was unknown if this applied to everyone expected to be brought in from the UK.

Home Secretary Priti Patel cited the memorandum of understanding as a “landmark agreement” while elaborating on Britain’s post-Brexit immigration policies. 

Ms Patel said on Twitter:

Our new landmark agreement with Nigeria will increase the deportation of dangerous foreign criminals to make our streets and country safer and take the fight to the criminal people smugglers together to tackle illegal migration. 

READ ALSO: Buhari To Sign 10 Agreements, MoUs With Portuguese Government

Official estimates place the number of foreign criminals in UK prisons at 9,815.

The Boris Johnson-led government claimed in the March publication of Britain’s “New Plan for Immigration” that the country had “regained control of our legal immigration system by ending free movement and introducing a new points-based immigration system.”

The policy document said:

The UK now decides who comes to our country based on the skills people have to offer, not where their passport is from. 

On Thursday, Forbes reported that the first batch of deportees had left the UK for Nigeria and Ghana. According to Forbes, 13 Nigerians were deported to Lagos, and the flight then carried on to Ghana, where eight Ghanaians landed.

A Home Office spokesperson told Forbes:

The UK only ever returns individuals to their country of origin when the Home Office and, where applicable, the courts deem it is safe to do so. All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered in accordance with our international obligations. Each individual assessment is made against the background of relevant case law and the latest country information.

Following the Home Office’s announcement that it would be sending asylum seekers to Rwanda in April, discussions about deportation and migration from the UK have become frequent.

Meanwhile, the Rwanda plan called for sending asylum seekers who had travelled to the UK via the English Channel on a plane to Rwanda so they could apply for asylum there. According to the government, the plan would deter other people from travelling across the Channel. 

The intervention of the European Court of Human Rights has halted the plans.